A few years ago I was at a large dinner in a rather expensive part of London (not a good way to start a newsletter piece, but please bear with me) where a well-known and senior Catholic politician (who shall remain nameless) admitted that he ‘didn’t know much about patristic
Continue readingEach year, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life and the Gospel reading for the day is always taken from the long passage in Saint John’s Gospel where Jesus offers himself to us as the Good Shepherd. Sheep-rearing was
Continue readingLast Monday morning, as I was putting in my car the very generous gifts you gave to the London Catholic Worker house in north London, the world was digesting the defeat of the Far Right nationalist Marine Le Pen in the French Presidential election. The coincidence seemed fitting: in every
Continue readingPalm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. It starts with a joyous feel and a very happy and welcoming vibe. A welcome that is fit for a King, but there is a slight difference: he comes not on a horse, but a donkey, enacting the very words he taught
Continue readingThis Friday is April Fools’ Day. As the fighting in Ukraine continues I am reminded of the sort of human foolishness which surprises everyone in the moment, but then makes sense as events unfold. In 2019 in the presidential elections in Ukraine, the people voted in Volodymyr Zelensky, an actor
Continue readingThe Christians are pilgrims on a journey to the New Jerusalem, our eternal home. We follow the good Shepherd who is our guide and we listen to His words – “for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb. 13.14). Hence, the
Continue readingSeveral decades ago I was at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in Westminster Cathedral. Shortly before he was due to remove his chasuble, don an apron and get down on his knees to wash the feet of twelve old men, the Cardinal Archbishop got up to preach. He was
Continue readingWhen Peter witnesses the glory of Jesus on the mountain he cries out with obvious delight, “Master, it is wonderful for us to be here, so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” We have all felt this way in the events
Continue readingThe first question that comes up in our family as we approach Lent is “What are we giving up for Lent this year?” Basically the children want to know, during Lent, will we give up meat only on Fridays and Wednesdays, or all days of the week during Lent. Another
Continue readingTHE PICTURE HERE is of the Ukrainian Cathedral of the Holy Family in Mayfair (Duke Street, W1) which is the base of the Ukrainian Catholic eparchy (diocese) in the United Kingdom. These are Catholics, in full Communion with the Holy See and our bishops, who use Eastern Orthodox liturgy and
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